Mass layoffs and ending emergency declarations bring COBRA compliance to the forefront

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The intersection of compliance rules, regulations, and laws often feels like driving a tractor-trailer on a superhighway during rush hour. HR and benefits compliance professionals have spent the last three years working through myriad administrative challenges during the pandemic. The President’s announcement of the plan to end the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023, will require the undoing of extended timelines, required coverage, and emergency use authorized treatments, all while mass layoffs are trending. Administering COBRA continuation of coverage is about to get very complicated again.

The COVID-19 national emergency and the PHE declared in 2020 are two separate emergency declarations. One by the President and the other by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In year three, an end date is planned that requires significant compliance preparation.